1666 and All That

Paul and Miranda reflect on one the most remarkable episodes of 17th-century history - Oliver Cromwell's decision to overturn the 360-year-old exclusion of Jews from England.

Despite opposition from some in the merchant class, and a persistent level of antisemitism among the public, Cromwell put his personal authority on the line to ensure that Jews would once again be free to live, work and worship in England. But what lay behind Cromwell's decision? And how did he overcome the many barriers to achieving his goal?

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.

Gareth Russell's latest book charts the 500-year history of Hampton Court Palace near London, best known for its place in the high melodrama of Henry VIII and his wives. Yet as Gareth reveals to Miranda and Paul, the part of the book he most enjoyed writing was not Tudor turmoil, but the extraordinary role Hampton Court played in 17th-century political, religious and cultural life. Music to the ears of our presenters, who are determined to draw this crucial period out of the historical shadows.

Over the Stuart century, as Gareth tells us, Hampton Court was by turns renovated, neglected, mothballed and saved from sale. It hosted religious scholars and royal mistresses. Within its walls, Shakespeare performed his plays and a prisoner king plotted his escape. And perhaps surprisingly, the leader who showed the most affection for Hampton Court was not a royal, but Oliver Cromwell.

Gareth Russell's 'The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of Royal History at Hampton Court' is published by William Collins.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Miranda Malins and Paul Lay. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.

From Shakespeare's plays to courtly fashions after the Glorious Revolution, facial hair - or the lack of it - was a key cultural signifier in 17th-century Europe, and is now a topic attracting an impressive body of scholarship.

As Miranda and Paul reveal in this episode, sporting a beard or moustache in mid-century England could suggest royalist sympathies, while clean-shaven chins often indicated Puritan leanings. Yet fashions came and went, influenced by bewhiskered tastes in Paris or Madrid. And as the century progressed, men's attitudes to facial hair were complicated by the increasingly widespread use of wigs.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.

Great storytelling meets historical rigour in Season Two of the podcast that brings the 17th century vividly to life.

The Levellers were among the most influential and misunderstood political movements of the 17th century, key figures in the events that led to Charles I's trial and execution. John Lilburne, Richard Overton, Thomas Rainsborough and others shaped a democratic republican vision, only to be marginalised - some might say betrayed - by Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum.

Paul and Miranda are joined by writer and activist John Rees, author of an acclaimed study of the Levellers. He charts the brief but significant life of this fascinating grassroots movement, and argues that their legacy is as relevant today as it was in the years after the Civil Wars.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Miranda Malins and Paul Lay. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.

To suggest episode topics for Season 2, leave a message on our website: www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that. Or use Twitter to contact @_paullay or @MirandaMalins

Miranda and Paul launch Season 2 with a myth-busting profile of King James VI and I, a fascinating and much-misunderstood monarch whose reign was packed with drama, intrigue and excess.

Their guest is Steven Veerapen, author of a new biography of James. Steven's book. 'The Wisest Fool: the Lavish Life of James VI and I' (Birlinn), reassesses James's early life in Scotland, explores his bisexuality, and paints a vivid picture of his extravagant court in London - "simultaneously the most colourful and the most wasteful in English history," as Steven tells us.

Yet there was more to James than drunken banquets and complicated romantic liaisons. He judiciously avoided becoming entangled in Europe's wars, showed impressive tact in his handling of religious tensions, and left behind a stable realm - though as Paul and Miranda remind us, that stability was quickly undermined by his son, Charles I.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.

To suggest episode topics for Season 2, leave a message on our website: www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that. Or use Twitter to contact @_paullay or @MirandaMalins

They're back! Paul Lay and Miranda Malins return with a second season of the podcast that captures the drama and complexity of a pivotal age in British, European and global history.

The 17th century is often overshadowed in popular culture by the Tudor period that came before it. Yet this was an age whose constitutional crises, identity politics and propaganda resonate with us today unlike any other. And it was a century of great upheavals and memorable characters - providing Miranda and Paul with a rich supply of stories that entertain and enlighten.

Among their stories in Season 2, they will explore the Levellers' legacy, try to make sense of the 30 Years War and give us fresh perspectives from Ireland, Europe and the wider world.

Episode 1, recalling the extravagant reign of King James VI and I, is available from 3 October.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.

All episodes from Season 1 and Season 2 are available on our website: www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that. Listeners can use X (formerly known as Twitter) to contact @_paullay or @MirandaMalins

Season 1 of '1666 and All That' comes to an end with a vividly revealing account of how the English state set out to support surviving victims of the Civil Wars of the 1640s.

The day after the battle of Edgehill in 1642, the Long Parliament established a national programme of financial relief to wounded Parliamentary soldiers, war widows and bereaved families. The programme was later co-opted by the Royalist side after the Restoration. To obtain a pension, applicants had to petition in writing, providing evidence of injury, bereavement or financial hardship. Like so many innovations of the mid-17th century, the scheme was ahead of its time. No comparable relief programme for ordinary fighting men was made available again for more than 200 years.

Paul and Miranda's guest is Dr Ismini Pell of Oxford University, director of the Civil War Petitions Project, which has been working to collate all surviving petitions, and to make these fascinating documents freely available to the public on their dedicated website: www.civilwarpetitions.ac.uk

Ismini describes how progress in medical science, and in attitudes to the wounded and psychologically traumatised, helped to lessen the lasting impact of many devastating years of conflict and upheaval. Some graphic descriptions of injuries are included in the episode.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

To suggest episode topics for Season 2, leave a message on our website: www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that/. Or use Twitter to contact @_paullay or @MirandaMalins

Author Henry Jeffreys has charted British history through its relationships - commercial, industrial and social - with alcohol. And as we discover when Henry talks to Paul and Miranda in this episode, the 17th century played a key role in shaping those relationships. Indeed, Henry argues that Britain had a greater influence on the booze business than any other nation.

From the invention of strong glass for bottles to experiments with adding fizz to wine, British scientists and entrepreneurs made a telling contribution. Imperial adventures opened up a global trade in wine and spirits. And the public - from aristocrats to the peasantry - played their part by displaying a healthy appetite for the strong stuff. Oliver Cromwell himself was fond of a tipple - demonstrating that when it came to booze, even priggish Puritans were happy to make an exception.

Henry Jeffreys' book 'Empire of Booze: British History Through the Bottom of a Glass' is published by Unbound.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

You can visit our website at www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that/

From Philippa Gregory to Robert Harris, historical novelists are increasingly turning to the 17th century for inspiration. In this episode, writer Julie Maxwell joins Miranda and Paul to talk about her new book 'The Image of the King', which tells the story of Charles I's trial and execution from the dual perspective of the doomed monarch and of the great poet John Milton, a supporter of Cromwell and the Parliamentary cause.

Julie reveals how she went about recreating the lives and motivations of these two vivid and contrasting characters.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. Miranda is the author of two novels about Oliver Cromwell's family: 'The Puritan Princess' (2020) and 'The Rebel Daughter' (2022), both published by Orion Press. Paul's book 'Providence Lost: the Rise and Fall of Cromwell's Protectorate' was published in 2020 by Head of Zeus.

The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

You can visit our website at www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that/

When Thomas Roe was sent by King James I to be ambassador to the Mughal Empire in 1615, he discovered a vast and sophisticated polity that far surpassed England in population, wealth and military might.

Paul and Miranda explore this early encounter between England and India with historian Nandini Das, author of 'Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire' (Bloomsbury). Nandini paints a wonderfully vivid picture of courtly extravagance, cultural misunderstandings and colonial competition.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Alfie Thompson.

You can visit our website at www.podpage.com/1666-and-all-that/